The Jerusalem Post (www.jpost.com) reports that a Palestinian terrorist infiltrated the town of Mechora and murdered Yafit Herenstein, a 31-year-old Israeli mother of 2.

Arno Herenstein, a member of the community's standby security team, had apparently been alerted to the infiltration by the electronic fence alarm and raced in his car to the family's home.

He arrived just as the terrorist opened fire on his wife. After shooting Yafit to death, the terrorist turned his gun on Arno, who was still behind the wheel of his car.

Yafit Herenstein, who speaks Arabic, had either opened the door or was already outside and may actually have spoken to the murderer before he killed her, while her two young daughters were asleep in the house.

Residents who rushed to the scene after hearing the shots rescued Shai, two, and four-month-old Hen from inside the house, as soldiers from the Nahal haredi unit charged the terrorist and killed him.

The Palestinian murderer was a member of the Al-Aksa martyrs brigade, a terrorist group that directly reports to Yasser Arafat (see the Palestine page for more details).

Initial inquiries into the attack by a Palestinian terrorist in Moshav Mechora in the Jordan Rift Valley late Saturday, in which Yafit Herenstein, 31, was killed and her husband, Arno, seriously wounded, have revealed that her husband was on his way to rescue her when she was slain.

Arno Herenstein, a member of the community's standby security team, had apparently been alerted to the infiltration by the electronic fence alarm and raced in his car to the family's home.
He arrived just as the terrorist opened fire on his wife. After shooting Yafit to death, the terrorist turned his gun on Arno, who was still behind the wheel of his car.

Yafit Herenstein, who speaks Arabic, had either opened the door or was already outside and may actually have spoken to the murderer before he killed her, while her two young daughters were asleep in the house.

Residents who rushed to the scene after hearing the shots rescued Shai, two, and four-month-old Hen from inside the house, as soldiers from the Nahal haredi unit charged the terrorist and killed him.

The murder of Herenstein and the wounding of her husband cast a pall of mourning over the small community.

"Our community is small, just 35 families, and everybody here is one big family," Tamy Tzafrir, who is the nurse at Mechora, told Israel Radio yesterday. "The fact it has happened here at home is very difficult for us. We will cope, however, and we will overcome with the help of others. We will help the family we will continue on with our lives . . . We have no intention of leaving Mechora."

She said the shooting had been close to her home and she reached the scene quickly and gave first aid to Arno, but there was nothing that could be done for Yafit.

"The baby girls are at their grandfather's home, with their uncles, and residents of Mechora are helping as much as possible," said Tzafrir.

Inquiries found that the terrorist, a member of Fatah's Aksa Martyrs Brigade, breached the security fence and went to the nearest house. The security fence had functioned properly and raised the alarm, and soldiers reached the scene moments after the couple were shot.

Military sources said the speedy response and efficient action in locating and shooting the terrorist undoubtedly helped save other lives.

Capt. Haim, commander of the Nahal haredi unit in the area, led the charge and opened fire first, killing the terrorist.

"We were alerted that there had been a breach of the security fence," he told reporters yesterday. "We quickly went to the point of the breach. In parallel, there was shooting near one of the houses in the community and we got there fast. We located the terrorist, charged, and killed him."

The fact that the attack could have been much worse did not, however, ease the grief of residents over the murder of Yafit and the wounding of her husband. Herenstein is to be buried at the Gedera Cemetery at 4:30 p.m. today. Her mother, who was on a trip to the Caribbean, was was returning home for the funeral.

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